


takes a sunrise to understand

by honey_butter



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: s05e05 Save the Cat, my take on what glimbow is doing when adora says they're making out in noelle's fic, this has been another installment of me trying to clean out my drafts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26868007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honey_butter/pseuds/honey_butter
Summary: “Are you okay?” Bow approached the bed, and Glimmer couldn’t help herself from looking up at him.She’d missed him, missed him more than she had ever thought possible. Those days, weeks, she’d spent trapped in Horde Prime’s prison, constantly watched, constantly afraid, her whole being had ached for him. It made her feel guilty, but she’d missed Bow more than she missed her mom, even when that hurt had been fresh and new and bleeding.What I think glimbow was doing when Adora said they were making out inDon't Gowith a dash of Horde Prime-induced angst.
Relationships: Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 68





	takes a sunrise to understand

**Author's Note:**

> yes this fic made me cry. both because it was looming in my drafts for so long and because i made myself yearn too hard again. whoops.
> 
> possible trigger warning for claustrophobia and maybe some ptsd-related things. i'm not 100% if this qualifies as either of those, but glimmer was in a pretty traumatizing experience on horde prime's ship so just be mindful of that when reading. take care of yourselves!!
> 
> title is from sinking ship by wild child. (seriously. this is my favorite angsty glimbow song. go listen to it.)

“Glimmer?”

Glimmer was sitting on a cot in the room that she, Adora, and Bow had been sleeping in while aboard Darla. Upon hearing Bow’s voice, she quickly ducked her head, wiping her face and then smiling, hoping he’d somehow miss that she had been crying just moments before.

“Oh, hey, Bow. I didn’t hear you come in.” Her voice broke halfway through and she folded her shoulders inward.  _ No, no, no, he can’t see this. _

“Are you okay?” Bow approached the bed, and Glimmer couldn’t help herself from looking up at him.

She’d missed him, missed him more than she had ever thought possible. Those days, weeks, she’d spent trapped in Horde Prime’s prison, constantly watched, constantly  _ afraid, _ her whole being had ached for him. It made her feel guilty, but she’d missed Bow more than she missed her mom, even when that hurt had been fresh and new and bleeding.

And she didn’t want him to see this, the fear that was still left over from being trapped. She wanted her Bow smiles back and her Bow hugs. Glimmer wanted everything to be normal again, and normal didn’t include this feeling of pressing, pressing, pressing on her chest.

“Glimmer, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” She watched, wide eyed, her fake smile slipping, as Bow knelt down before her, cupping her face in his hands. “Please, just tell me you’re okay.” And that was real hurt in his eyes, pulling his mouth down into a frown.

_ No,  _ no,  _ I’ve hurt him enough. _

“I’m fine, Bow!” The laugh sounded false even to her own ears, but she couldn’t make herself pull back, not when he was kneeling before her and holding her face so caringly, so tenderly.

“Glimmer.” He looked at her. She felt her eyes widen, even as a fresh wave of tears leaked out.

Bow’s brow furrowed and he wiped her tears away gently.  _ When is he not gentle? _ Immediately images of Bow skewering bots with his arrows, blowing up Horde ships, and launching himself off of the faces of Horde soldiers flashed through her mind.  _ Okay, _ Glimmer amended,  _ when is he not gentle with me? _

“Oh, Bow,” she choked out, and she thought her voice had broken before but now, now it was little more than a croak. 

“Glimmer, Glimmer, how can I help?” Glimmer could tell that he was scrambling, searching for a way to make this better, to make her better. But he didn’t move from his calming position before her, continuing to hold her face in his hands as reverently as he would hold the whole world.

“I’m sorry.” Glimmer forced her eyes shut, trying to squeeze the tears down.

“No, no, you have nothing to apologize for.”

Bow swiped his thumbs over the planes of her face, smoothing out her skin and wiping the tears from where they were pooling on his hands. He waited, giving her time to breath, to continue crying if she needed to. And Glimmer was so grateful it almost replaced the hurt in her chest. Almost.

After minutes of that silence, Glimmer sighed and opened her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to burden him with this, but now she knew he would be even more bothered by it if she refused to tell him what was wrong.

“Aboard Horde Prime’s ship I felt… trapped. And now that I’m here, even though you guys are here too, it’s like I just traded one trap for another.” That was the best way she could explain the pressing of the spaceship’s walls around her, the sick feeling that filled her stomach when she jolted awake and couldn’t remember if it had all been a dream, if she was still stuck in that tiny room.

“Glimmer, I’m  _ so sorry,” _ Bow says, but, no, that’s not right. He has nothing to be sorry for.

“No! I’m the one who’s sorry! For  _ everything, _ Bow. I’m the one that caused this, I deserve it. And now I’m making this all about me and—”

“No, Glimmer, stop.” Bow tilted her head up, so that she had to meet his eyes, “I forgive you, remember? And no one deserves this, especially not you. You deserve,” he paused, like he was deciding something, “you deserve  _ everything, _ Glimmer. Everything.”

Glimmer’s eyes opened wide again, searching Bow’s.  _ His eyes are gorgeous, _ Glimmer thought.  _ Have they always been that pretty? _ Another voice whispered  _ Yes, yes, and you’ve noticed them a thousand times before. Each time they look more beautiful than the last. _ And Glimmer may not be Adora’s level of rashness, of bravery, but she decided in that moment that this was worth maybe a little embarrassment. Bow was worth it.

Glimmer leaned forward and kissed Bow, pushing herself more securely into his hands and brushing her lips against his. It wasn’t anything more than that before she was pulling back, still keeping her face in his hands, and giving him a moment to process.

“Is this just because you’re upset?” He asked.

“No, it’s because I wanted to,” Glimmer breathed. She could feel her mouth pulled up in a little, sweet smile, maybe a little wobbly around the edges, but the truthful version of what she had tried to fake for his sake earlier and one that clearly betrayed all of her feelings.

Bow paused a second, “Good.” And then he was the one leaning forward and meeting her in a kiss, gentle like he always was with her.

Glimmer ran her fingers through the short hairs at the back of Bow’s head, pulling him more firmly into the kiss. Her chest still felt tight, her stomach hollow, but this was something she could do, something she had wanted to do for a long time. Bow leaned further into her, his hands moving to brace on the bed beside her thighs, Glimmer responded by only pulling him closer, moving her lips more aggressively against his. Glimmer felt herself tilting backwards and Bow moving forwards, pushing her back gently, sweetly, until she was lying down on the cot.

“Is this okay?” Bow asked, somehow his hands had ended up on either side of her head and he held himself up on them, looking down on her.

Glimmer felt her heart stutter. “Yes,” and her voice was little more than a whisper because he was here and she was safe and everything was okay.

“Can I keep kissing you?”

_ “Bow. _ Come here.” She was once again the one who pulled him down into the kiss, letting him get readjusted to this new normal between them before biting cautiously at his lower lip.

He made a sound she’d never heard him make before but couldn’t pretend she’d never imagined, sinking even more onto her as she kissed him harder, pressed deeper. It didn’t take long before Bow was nearly boneless on top of her and all she had to do to flip them was nudge him over to the side. They made out for a while, lazily, Glimmer’s weight on her forearms as she ran her fingers over his hair, and Bow’s hands dragging soothing lines up her back. As they kissed, time turned into the soft caress of Bow’s palms, the feeling of his face and lips and body below her, and the hollow feeling in her chest began to fill up with him, him, him.

Eventually, when both of their lips were bruised from kissing, they clambered more securely into the small bed. This time, Bow drew Glimmer up to his chest, letting her wrap around him, running a hand through her short hair and pressing one last kiss to the top of her head.

“You’re going to get glitter on you,” Glimmer whispered.

“I don’t care,” impossibly, Bow’s voice was even quieter, even softer.

And his arms made the ship, the world, feel less like a prison and more like a home. A home she would fight for, would give anything for, in order to have more moments like this— moments where she could curl up safe and secure, held by the man she loved.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! i don't have much more to say other than the fact that i'm still deep in the season five feels even though it's already been six months since it came out. this was vaguely edited so if there are any super glaring mistakes please let me know.
> 
> i'm on tumblr at [labelleofbelfastcity](https://labelleofbelfastcity.tumblr.com/) come say hi!! as always, don't be shy to leave a comment and have a wonderful day/night!


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